


catalyst

by tofusquish



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, a mess, daniel's cats, gapyeong lovers, overuse of cat puns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-08-25 17:12:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16664878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tofusquish/pseuds/tofusquish
Summary: daniel didn't expect to fall in love when he finally found an apartment to live in with his cats, but maybe all he needed was a catalyst, in the form of his round orange tabby rooney, to fall for ong seongwoo.





	catalyst

**Author's Note:**

> prompt #341/free prompt/ based off this prompt i got off a prompt generator 
> 
> “My cat keeps breaking into your apartment next to mine so I tied a note to its collar to apologise and you write back so we keep exchanging cat notes and you’re pretty funny.” 
> 
> (from http://colormayfade.tumblr.com/generator)
> 
> also not edited so sorry in advance for any mistakes-

“can you believe it kids? we finally have a new place! welcome to our new home.” daniel put down the cat carriers, unzipping them one by one. he gave each cat a pat on the head before watching them wonder around the apartment. it wasn't a big place, just a living room, balcony, two small bedrooms and bathroom. one room was for himself and the other for the cats. daniel was so glad he could actually find a place that allowed pets since everywhere he went disliked the possibility of an owner's pets roaming to other rooms. daniel always assured that he would keep close eye on his cats (since he was always cuddling them anyways) but every landlord said no. so, daniel was thankful to find this place especially since he got an extra bedroom for the cats to play. 

 

"you girls stay here! i have to help bring in the stuff okay?" daniel told the cats as he brought them to their bedroom and put down a packet of cat treats to distract them. chuckling as the three cats immediately dove their heads in, daniel slid out of the room and jogged out of the apartment. one thing he didn't quite enjoy was the lack of an elevator in the apartment building. he didn't mind at first because the building only had three floors but when he was carrying furniture up the stairs, he could do without the stairs. as he brought the couch he couldn't disassemble for transport, he scratched his head at the bottom of the stairs. he would've called sungwoon to help him carry things but the older friend was working the day daniel was moving in. rubbing his chin, daniel tried to lift the couch in many ways, attacking from all sides but he just couldn't lift the large piece of furniture. 

 

"need help?" his sweaty light brown bangs flipped up as he looked up at his saviour, a tall black haired man around his age wearing a dark blue jean jacket with a gray hood, white t shirt and black jeans. the stranger tilted his head slightly,reminding the cat lover of his own pets. daniel couldn’t help but chuckle at the cute resemblance. 

 

“sure!” daniel finally answered as the other got to the bottom of the stairs, pushing up his sleeves. 

 

“i’m ong seongwoo by the way,” the black haired introduced as he lifted one side of the couch. seongwoo let out a groan at the weight while daniel lifted his side easily. 

 

“i’m kang daniel. i just moved in on the third floor.” daniel watched seongwoo’s expression darken at the mention of the third floor. 

 

“ah no wonder there were boxes in the hallway,” seongwoo huffed as he glanced back while carrying the couch up the stairs. daniel watched apologetically, trying to keep a slow pace while climbing the stairs so he couldn’t hurt the other. 

 

“you live on the third floor too?” daniel asked while they got to the first landing, seongwoo putting the couch down and a hand on his hip while catching his breath. 

 

“yeah,” he took a deep breath while glancing at daniel who pointed his thumb back, silently asking if seongwoo wanted to take his side of the couch. perking up a smile, seongwoo put up his hand in a gesture of ‘no thanks’. nodding his head at the cute rejection, daniel got a sense that seongwoo would probably like to switch at the second landing (which he did) but seongwoo insisted he could make all the way to their floor. after one head bump and many grunts and groans, the two got the couch in daniel’s living room. 

 

“thanks for helping me,” daniel told as he opened the door for the cat room and placed an ice pack on seongwoo’s head. 

 

“no problem. sorry it took so long,” seongwoo apologized as he held the pack on his head. daniel shook his head in reassurance as he took up his smallest kitten ori onto his lap. he scratched behind ori's ears while noticing seongwoo watch all the cats wander around the unopened boxes. 

 

"seongwoo hyung," daniel learned seongwoo's age somewhere along the way up the stairs, "do you like cats?" nodding his head, daniel watched as the older tried to reach out and pet one of the older cats but each cat dodged his hand. seongwoo pouted lightly as daniel chuckled in response, offering ori to pet by holding him up in his hands. while seongwoo petted lightly on the tan kitten's head, daniel couldn't help but smile as seongwoo's pout changed to a satisfied grin as ori didn't oppose to his hand.  _ cute. _

 

“you have a lot to unpack...should i help with that too? i don't have any plans for the rest of the day,” seongwoo asked after a few minutes of cat petting. daniel's face lit up at the mention as he excitedly (but gently) set ori aside.

 

“that would be great. i'll treat you to black bean noodles for dinner then if you don't mind.” 

 

“that’s fine. you  _ need _ to have black bean noodles when you moving anyways.” laughing lightly at the comment, daniel dusted off his pants before they started to rip open boxes. the rest of the night consisted of unpacking, stuffing their faces with black bean noodles and playing with daniel’s cats when they were too tired to finish the rest of the boxes. not only did daniel grow fond of his new neighbour, the cats grew fond of seongwoo faster than daniel thought, especially rooney who liked to follow as he carried boxes. when the night was done and daniel bid goodbye to seongwoo, he flopped on the bed, exhausted from all the moving - that he didn’t even bother with the bedsheets - and fell instantly asleep with thankful thoughts towards his new friendly neighbour ong seongwoo. 

 

\---

 

the next week for kang daniel was busy with multiple friends coming over to visit and getting used to his new home. but one thing that made his week even harder (or better) was when rooney would find ways to wiggle her way out of the room. but where was she going? of course, to the handsome neighbour’s door. 

 

the first time a rooney escape happened was the day after the move in. daniel was so tired that he didn’t notice until he was ordering brunch that rooney was missing. he was standing by the fridge, reading off a flyer when he started counting his cats and found only two opposed to three. 

 

“ori! peter! where’s rooney?” daniel blurted out in the middle of his order causing a confused response from the worker on the other side. gasping at the disappearance, he apologized to the delivery place and canceled his order. he took out his trusty cat treats and called out all over the apartment, looked in every closet and under his bed. it wasn’t until the doorbell rang that he finally found rooney...in ong seongwoo’s arms. 

 

“i’m sorry hyung! i’ll make sure it won’t happen again and if it does, i owe you dinner!” seongwoo laughed and shook his head, saying that it was okay but surely enough, daniel’s words came to bite him in the butt. rooney had taken a lot more liking in the neighbour with the constellation on his cheek and always snuck out somehow next door. whether it be when daniel opened the front door for guests or through the balcony, seongwoo always showed up with a round orange cat to daniel’s door. 

 

“rooney! you need to stop visiting seongwoo hyung,” daniel whined to his cat after the nth time of picking her up. rooney only ran off once daniel put her down but he chased her quickly until they were settled on the couch. he then tied a little pink note on rooney’s collar with a smile before finally letting her run free with his two more behaved kittens. 

 

“there! now you have an apology note for if seongwoo hyung has to bring you back again.” 

 

[ **sorry for trespassing on your propurrty again! my older bro owes you another dinner now. -rooney** ]

 

to daniel’s surprise, he got a reply. the next day or two, daniel got rooney back yet again but this time by letting her come in through the balcony. instantly, he spotted a different coloured paper attached to rooney’s collar, this time in a blue colour. 

 

[ **i don’t mind your visits rooney but if you insist, then when your older bro has the oppurrtunity, have him call this number ;) - ong** ]

laughing at the response, daniel fished his phone out, saving the number scribbled at the bottom. the younger stopped for a second, wondering how he didn’t get his model like neighbour’s number before. actually, daniel hadn’t much time to actually get to know seongwoo, only seeing him when he dropped off rooney from her adventures. so, daniel only grinned to himself when he shot seongwoo his first text, thanking for the reply and assuring that even though he got his number, seongwoo can still anticipate cat puns when rooney snuck over. 

 

[ **i’ll anticipate them then. but hey, could we confurm that dinner? are you free on friday?** ] 

 

daniel wasn’t free on friday but he was able to secure an evening with seongwoo at the bbq place by the apartment building on saturday night. luckily he got jisung to catsit and the two were off for some cat free time (though both still very much enjoyed cat cuddle time). walking down the street with the sunsetting in their hoodies and jeans, the two easily slid into conversation especially over the a particular cat. 

 

“i really don’t know why she keeps going over. rooney was never like this before,” daniel expressed his surprise as they sat at their table and finished order some beers and meat. 

 

“maybe she is into handsome guys?” seongwoo teased making daniel chuckle into the beer he sipped, stopping himself from spitting it out with the back of his hand. 

 

“i admit that. rooney does have a thing for handsome guys. i guess especially ones with cute constellations on their cheeks-” daniel cut himself off with a chuckle as he played with his beer can, both their cheeks getting red. taking a swing from his own can, seongwoo let out an ‘ahhh~’ when he put it down, cutting the shy silence with his funny noise. they both burst into giggles while the meat was being brought out. declaring that he was the master of grilling, daniel started grilling while seongwoo nibbled on the end of his chopsticks, drooling over the meat. 

 

“i haven’t eaten all day…” seongwoo grumbled as daniel glanced at him, relating to that feeling. 

 

“same. i’ve been busy all day at the cat shelter. well, more like finding my way to cat shelter.”

 

“you work at a cat shelter?” seongwoo asked as he finally tore his eyes off the meat and now on daniel’s eyes. 

 

“yeah, that’s one of my jobs. i also do some classes at a dance studio. i’m looking into learning about game tech though as a more stable job.” 

 

“oh wow, you do a lot… all i do is work at a cafe while taking poetry classes.” 

 

“wow! do you write?” seongwoo shrugged a bit, his eyes going back to the food, nudging daniel to flip the meat. daniel’s attention also shifted to the meat, leaving the topic as the younger could sense the older’s shyness. taking a cooked piece, daniel blew on it lightly before feeding it to the older, watching seongwoo lean forward to grab it in his mouth. seongwoo hummed in delight at the meat, even doing a little dance that daniel copied. after their dance break, daniel reached to ruffle seongwoo’s hair, thinking the older was just too cute to handle. however, he didn’t notice instead of a glare for the action, daniel caused a blush on seongwoo’s cheeks. 

 

\---

 

after getting to know each other over dinner, the two talked more not only through cat puns but also through texts and meetings. although they lived next to each other, the two spent nights texting one another into the late hours. daniel would always ask if he was disturbing seongwoo’s homework from his poetry class. however, seongwoo never minded the other, saying daniel actually kept him awake. other than late night texting, their schedules seemed to line up. daniel would hitch rides from seongwoo after their part time jobs home, which allowed them to talk much more, building trust. soon enough, daniel trusted seongwoo enough to give him the passcode to his apartment to bring rooney over when she went over. by then though, rooney, peter and ori recognized seongwoo as their second owner. daniel thought the same, especially when seongwoo would come back from grocery shopping with new toys or treats. 

 

“you spoil them too much. rooney is just going to get bigger and bigger,” daniel teased one day as seongwoo came in, the cats immediately swarming to the other. 

 

“i don’t see a problem with that. besides, you spoil them too,” seongwoo gestured to the new cat tower that daniel had built the other day. 

 

“i only got that as a gift from the shelter,” daniel protested but the two didn’t bother bickering more. seongwoo was preoccupied with feeding the cats, petting their ears back and chuckling as they popped back up. leaning on his palm, daniel gazed at the cute sight, thinking about how seongwoo practically lived at his house. he wouldn’t mind, since they got along so easily. plus, daniel had never seen his cats get so fond of someone so fast, but he could see why. ong seongwoo was so sweet, charming, handsome, kind- daniel could go on and on about how much he liked seongwoo. 

 

but he didn’t want to confess too fast. daniel could get the sense that seongwoo’s feelings are shared, they may have held hands once or twice on grocery trips home, but he still felt the quickness of their relationship. so, for now they stayed with tiptoeing around their confessions. 

 

maybe they just needed a  _ catalyst _ . 

 

\---

 

“ah i’m so tired!” daniel had just come back from working a dance competition. coming in exhausted and excited to show off his prize money, his face fell when there were only two cats waiting for him. he swore he told seongwoo to feed them since he was coming home late… but there was one cat missing. 

 

“maybe rooney escaped to seongwoo hyung’s room again,” daniel assured as he knelt down to pet peter, who was resting peacefully on the couch’s arm. as he pet her colourful fur, he noticed a different blue colour sticking out from her collar. recognizing the handwriting, daniel jolted up, picking up his stranded jacket and rushing out the door. 

 

sprinting, it didn’t take long for daniel to arrive at the vet, but he was panting heavily when he bolted in the door. luckily, he didn’t have to search far to find his missing cat and friend. standing at the counter, seongwoo was filling out some paperwork with a cat carrier at his side. sighing in relief, daniel made his way up to the other, seongwoo’s expression brightening at the other’s arrival. 

 

“thank god you’re here. i don’t know how to fill this out,” seongwoo greeted while sliding the paper to daniel. 

 

“is she okay?” daniel asked as he took the sheet, scribbling in the information fast, his focus bouncing between seongwoo, rooney who was sleeping in the cat carrier and the clerk. 

 

“she’s fine. i just overreacted when she didn’t want to eat. the vet said just to keep an eye on her for the next week but she probably just didn’t want to eat yet-” with seongwoo’s cute rambling and the relief of rooney being okay, daniel couldn’t help himself, pulling the other in for a hug and about to go in for the kiss but suddenly he remembered the front desk lady. he still wrapped his arms around the other in thanks, squeezing lightly and taking one hand in his. 

 

“thank you, hyung,” daniel told him quietly as both their cheeks heated up. the screeching of rolling chair cut through their silence, the worker telling them they are free to go, sending a wink. after bowing on their way out, daniel held rooney’s carrier in one hand and seongwoo’s in the other, all the way to the car. 

 

the car ride home was quiet other than the radio and even the walk up to their apartments was generally quiet, other than the thank you seongwoo gave when daniel opened the door for him. the two went to the living room, both kneeling down to let rooney out of the carrier. 

 

“she had a good nap in there huh? she looks like she really wants to come out,” seongwoo commented as he pressed his face to the netting, his nose pressing to rooney’s. 

 

“thank you again hyung. for always taking care of her. i can’t say thanks enough,” daniel mentioned as he unzipped the carrier and seongwoo sat up on his heels. 

 

“don’t sweat it, niel. anything for you and your sisters,” seongwoo replied as they finally met eyes. they had a good arms length apart but daniel closed the space so there was less than an inch between them (especially their lips). it was a sweet short kiss with their usual burning cheeks but this time, seongwoo burst into a chuckle first. 

 

“i was waiting for my thank you kiss, niel,” seongwoo jabbed lightly as he shuffled over to tackle the other so they were hugging on the floor. laughing, daniel enveloped seongwoo in his arms as the cats stared curiously at them. 

 

“i just wasn’t sure hyung!”

 

“about what? i’ve been waiting for it from day one when i hit my head on the stairs,” seongwoo grumbled as he buried himself into daniel’s warmth. not only did seongwoo try to steal some heat, rooney curled up in between them with a satisfied meow. chuckling, the two gave the sleepy cat a pet on her head before looking at each other’s eyes again. 

 

“i guess we should thank rooney for finally getting us together,” daniel mentioned as seongwoo nodded, running his hand again over rooney’s head and ears. 

 

“you’re right. thanks rooney~” breaking out into a grin, daniel squeezed seongwoo tight for being so cute, nuzzling into his hair as seongwoo complained. daniel was quickly forgiven since he gave yet another kiss. he didn’t even think if it was too many kisses. he even gave rooney a kiss of appreciation, kang daniel was just so happy that they could confirm their feelings and all thanks to his round orange tabby. 

 

\---

 

“hey hyung, want to take a trip? since you’re done classes for this year and i’m off work for a bit?” daniel asked one day as lounged on the couch while seongwoo held their new white kitten, zhang, in his arms. the younger moved his legs to let the older sit and moved to rest his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder. 

 

“sure. jisung hyung has been begging to take care of the cats again after we took in zhang,” seongwoo stated as he stared at daniel’s screen. 

 

“where to? gapyeong?” 

 

“sure. can i drive there?” seongwoo asked as daniel scrolled through the things to do in gapyeong. meanwhile, the couch was starting to get crowded as ori took daniel’s lap and the two bigger cats laid at their sides. noticing the lessening space, seongwoo chuckled and gave each cat a pat. 

 

“oh, it says gapyeong is for lovers,” seongwoo pointed out as he was playing with zhang in his hands. 

 

“isn’t that perfect for us then hyung?” daniel asked as he tilted his head up. seongwoo pressed a kiss to his forehead. 

 

“not in front of the kids, kang daniel!” seongwoo teased as daniel pouted, shifting so his chin was rest on seongwoo’s shoulder. chuckling at the younger’s action, seongwoo playfully ‘covered’ zhang’s eyes before laying a kiss on daniel’s lips. after the two’s loving giggles, daniel laid his head back down on seongwoo’s shoulder, content with cuddling up to his boyfriend and cats. 

**Author's Note:**

> first of all, sorry for this mess asfghl i don't feel like i did this prompt justice but i hope you enjoyed it! :)


End file.
